Shirt fastening means



Feb. 9, 1965 A. ROTHMAN 3,168,747

SHIRT FASTENING MEANS Filed July 1l, 1965 FIG.

IN VEN TOR.

"Alvin Rgthman Patented Feb. 9, 1965 United StatesPatent Office3,168,747 SHIRT FASTENING MEANS Alvin Rothman, Fresh Meadows, N.Y.assigner to PhillipsVan Heusen Corporation, New p York, N.Y., acorporation of New York t Filed July 11, 1963, Ser. No. 294,428

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-128) This invention relates to outer garments such asshirts, and it has for one of its objects the provision of collarfastening means, including a button-engaging expansible loop and tomeans by which the loop can be placed in a retracted position when notin use, thereby rendering it unobtrusive and largely concealed fromview.

In shirts intended for both informal and formal wear, collar fasteningmeans of such form is usually provided so that the collar may be worneither sport-shirt fashion or closed for more formal wear as with aneck-tie. When the collar is worn in open position, or sport-shirtstyle, at least one of the fastening elements, and usually a loop, isexposed to View and it serves to detract from the clean cut appearanceof the garment at the neck area. It is therefore desirable that somemeans be provided for concealing the loop when the same is not neededfor use in closing the collar and Vthe present invention relates to suchmeans.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a loop for closingthe collar when closure of the collar is desired and to provide means bywhich the greater part of the loop may be retracted into a pocket forits reception when it is not being used. It is also desirable that meansbe provided whereby the loop, when retracted as above stated, willprovide an insignificant but useful exposed bight portion of the loopfor linger engagement to extend the loop when it is desired to put thesame into button-engaging use.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of anelastic loop located at the upper edge of the front of the shirt and soarranged that it can be bodily shifted and retracted or pushed betweenlayers of the shirt front and thereby concealed from view, yet leaving asmall part of the bight of the loop exposed and available for drawingout the loop into extended position when required for use as a fasteningelement for the front of the collar.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in View, I havedevised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularlypointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a shirt collar arrangementconstructed in accordance with the invention and showing the fasteningloop in its extended position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged View with parts broken away and showing how theloop is mounted in the collar band portion;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3 3 of FIG.2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 shows the shirt collar as it appears when closed, but with one ofthe collar extremities folded back to disclose the fastening means, and

FIG. 5 shows the manner in which the loop can be retracted into the bodyof the shirt.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates generally the body of a shirt,which may be of conventional construction. The shirt is provided with anattached collar 2. The body of the shirt has its ends overlapping at thefront in the known manner and is fastened by the usual buttons andbutton-holes.

In the collar-band portion of the shirt is located a but ton 3 (FIG. 4)which is adapted to receive a loop 4 to maintain the collar in itsclosed or fastened position when the shirt is worn in the more formalmanner as in FIG. 4. When the collar is open and the shirt is being wornin an informal or sport-shirt style as shown in FIG. 1, the loop 4 isthen detached from the button 3 and it may be caused to be retracted sothat the greater portion of it is accommodated in a pocket arrangedbetween the layers of the shirt body fabric.

The loop 4 is preferably, but not necessarily composed of elastic cordand is thus stretchable and is readily engaged around the button 3 toclose the collar. When it is not needed, it can be readily pushed downinto the body of the shirt to locate it between the layers thereof andto be largely concealed from view as shown in FIG. 5.

The loop is of elongated form and has its ends secured together bystitching or wrapping as shown at 6. The fabric layers 7 and 8 havetheir edges inturned, as shown at 9 and 10 in FIG. 3 and these inturnededges are united by stitching 11. The stitching is interrupted toprovide two spaced openings 12 and 13 through which the legs of the loop4 pass and are movable to slide the loop in and out of the spacingbetween the layers 7 and 8. It will be noted that a portion of theinturned edges 10 and 11 extends between the legs of the loop and suchportion, shown at 14, forms a stop to limit the extending of the loopout of the pocket 15 between the layers of the shirt, as Well as tolimit the extent of protrusion of the loop. This stop piece also servesto prevent the loop from being pulled away from the shirt when it iselastically expanded about the button as shown in FIG- 4.-

When the loop is retracted into the shirt, or into the pocket portion 15thereof, it will be noted that, as shown in FIG. 5 a very small portionof the bight end of the loop remains on the outside of the edge 16 ofthe shirt. This portion of the loop is so insignificant as to bescarcely perceptible on the outside of the shirt, but it is suiiicientto enable it to be engaged by the finger to pull out the loop to theextended position of FIG. 1 when the loop is to be placed inbutton-engaging position.

When the shirt is worn informally, as a sport shirt as shown in FIG. 1,the loop 4 can be withdrawn or retracted so that most of it will enterinto the pocket 15 and will thus be concealed from view, the smallextended portion 17 being relatively unnoticeable. In FIG. l the loop isshown in its extended portion, but actually when the shirt is worn asthere shown the loop will be retracted as shown in FIG. 5. When it isdesired to conceal the loop it is pushed into the pocket 15 between thelayers of the shirt body to the limit of its insertion as shown in FIG.5, its further retraction into the body of the shirt being halted by thecontact of the bight portion 17 of the loop with the part 14 locatedbetween the legs of the loop.

When the shirt is to be worn for formal wear, or with a necktie, theloop is extended to the position shown in FIG. l and the loop then ttedaround the button 3. The loop being elastic or stretchable, will permitexpansibility of the collar size and will afford comfort to the wearerwhile retaining the collar in a fastened condition.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it isobvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broadenough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. A shirt and a fastener therefor, said shirt comprising front partsadapted to be in overlapping relationship, at least one of said frontparts being composed of a plurality of fabric layers connected togetherby stitching along an edge thereof which is adapted to lie inoverlapping relationship to said other front part, said stitching beinginterrupted at two spacedpoints along said edge, said interruptedstitching thereby defining two spaced openings along said edge betweensaid fabric layers, said openings beiiig separated-'by aistitched ledgeportion., an elastic loop comprising two legl portions and a bightportion, one l of said leg portions of said loop being inserted between`portion between said openings, said stitched edge portion forming astop means to limit the extension or retraction of` said loop, saidclosed loop thereby forming afastener for said front part and beingadapted to engage-accoperating fastener on Vthe other front part.

2. A shirt and fastener therefor as provided in claim 1,wherein. saidYclosed loop is of elongated yformation and is adapted to be retractedwithin in said fabric layers to a point where only the bight portion ofsaid closed loop is visible.

References CitedY the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS"1,963,004

Tucker v r i r r June12,` 1934 2,425,091 Y Fisch Aug. 5, 1947 2,756,432Beregow etal. July 31, 1956 2,893,012v Kahn e July 7, 1959

1. A SHIRT AND A FASTENER THEREFOR, SAID SHIRT COMPRISING FRONT PARTSADAPTED TO BE IN OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID FRONTPARTS BEING COMPOSED OF A PLURALITY OF FABRIC LAYERS CONNECTED TOGETHERBY STITCHING ALONG AN EDGE THEREOF WHICH IS ADAPTED TO LIE INOVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID OTHER FRONT PART, SAID STITCHING BEINGINTERRUPTED AT TWO SPACED POINTS ALONG SAID EDGE, SAID INTERRUPTEDSTITCHING THEREBY DEFINING TWO SPACED OPENINGS ALONG SAID EDGE BETWEENSAID FABRIC LAYERS, SAID OPENINGS BEING SEPARATED BY A STITCHED EDGEPORTION, AN ELASTIC LOOP COMPRISING TWO LEG PORTIONS AND A BIGHTPORTION, ONE OF SAID LEG PORTIONS OF SAID LOOP BEING INSERTED BETWEENSAID FABRIC LAYERS THROUGH ONE OF SAID OPENINGS, THE OTHER SAID LEGPORTION OF SAID LOOP BEING INSERTED BETWEEN SAID FABRIC LAYERS THROUGHTHE OTHER OF SAID OPENINGS, MEANS SECURING SAID LEG PORTIONS TOGETHERBETWEEN SAID FABRIC